Jed McCaleb and the Launch of Stellar.org

If you’re not already familiar with Jed McCaleb, he is a programmer, entrepreneur, and the Co-founder of Stellar.org, an online platform connecting payment systems, banks, and people under the auspices of moving money quickly and reliably. Of course, McCaleb’s role with Stellar is not particularly surprising; according to the company’s website, stellar.org, McCaleb is a tremendous proponent of using technology to improve efficiency, which is precisely what Stellar.org is doing in the financial sector.

To further contextualize Stellar’s business model, it is a payment network created by McCaleb and business partner Joyce Kim, in 2014. The company prides themselves on their ability to streamline the transfer of funds via an open-source protocol, comprising of sophisticated network servers and Internet connectivity.

What makes stellar different than other payment networks? It’s one of the first, if not the only, payment network that facilitates multi-currency transactions, which according to the company’s website, is accomplished by using Lumens (XLM), a crypto-asset. Stellar.org also offers unprecedented tracking capabilities, offering a level of transparency not commonly seen on other payment platforms.

As far as McCaleb’s background is concerned, he began his entrepreneurial career, in 2000 with the launch of MetaMachine, a company predicated on providing business management services. In 2007, McCaleb had his sights set on expanding his entrepreneurial horizon by launching Code Collective, a software development company best known for programming and designing “The Far Wilds,” an innovative turn-based strategy game.

In 2011, Jed McCaleb turned his attention to finance, launching Ripple.com, in 2011, a currency exchange, remittance network, and gross settlement system. In fact, it was most likely Ripple that served as the inspiration for Stellar.org. Much like Stellar, Ripple operated as an open-source payment system, connecting payment providers, banks, and facilitating digital asset exchanges. According to Positivethefacts.com, in 2015, McCaleb took on an advisory role with Machine Intelligence Research Institute, based in California. The institute is a nonprofit that seeks to expand on AI technology.

In 2014, McCaleb Co-founded Stellar.org with hopes of improving upon outdated infrastructure commonly found in the financial industry. Stellar.org, from its inception, worked to streamline transactions amongst bankers and others involved in the finance industry through the use of technology.